Telephone pay station tariff indicator



July 13, 1937. N N 2,086,624

TELEPHONE PAY STATION TARIFF INDICATOR Filed Jan. 4, 1936 INVENTOR. EINRICH LANGNER ATTORNEY.

Patented July 13, 1937 UNITED STATES TELEPHONE PAY STATION TARIFF 1NDIGATOB Heinrich Langnen'Berlin-Stiglitz, Germany, as- Signor to Telephon-Apparat Fabrik E. Zwictusch and Company, Berlin, Germany Application January 4,

Germany January 23, 1935 4 Claims.

This invention relates in general to indicators but more particularly to indicators such as are used at telephone paystations for indicating to a subscriber whether the day or the night time 5 rates for calls are in effect at the time he is about to make a call.

For paystations it has already been proposed to supervise the operating condition of the line as to whether it is free or engaged and which I tarifl' (day or night) is in eiiect, by means of a polarized relay. The relay has one winding connected to one conductor of the line and one winding connected to the other conductor of the line and is correspondingly energized by battery potential at the exchange according to the time of day, over the one conductor, the other conductor or over both. The member with which the relay is provided for the purpose of acting.

as an indicator is accordingly moved to one or other of the positions on a suitable scale.

The invention is directed to the perfection of a device of this type and at the same time make it more simple in construction. The indication of day or night tarifi and of the operating condition of a pay station is effected according to the invention by means of a galvanometer which is fed from battery at the exchange over only one lead or conductor of the line, and whose single winding is energized more strongly or less strongly over the windings of a relay of which one of the windings may be short-circuited. In order to make the armature draw up more satisfactorily thus enabling a finer adjustment of the indicator a spring is arranged in the path of the armature or indicator. The indicator for example presses lightly against this spring in the first energizing stage while on the second energizing stage the pressure of the springhas to be overcome by the stronger current flow produced. 40 On removing the .hand set from the switchhook a spring-controlled by the former is pressed into one of the notches provided in the armature, so that the indicator still'remains in the position Y which it has taken up when the current is disconnected on removing the hand set from the switchhook. According to the invention the tarifl indicator produced is of considerable .sensltivity and yet stays firm in any of the indiw eating positions in spite of considerable current variations, being held in position until the end of thecall.

One embodiment of the tariff indicator according to the invention is represented in the 3 171 1936, Serial No. 57,501

Fig. 1 represents an elevation of the tariflf indicator partly cut away.

Fig. 2 represents a plan dicator shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 gives a diagrammatic representation oi! the circuit arrangement. a

The galvanometer 2 which is supported on a mounting plate I, consists essentially of a winding 3 and an armature 4 which carries an indicator 5; The piece 6 bent out from armature 4 is provided with notches 1 for receiving the holding spring 8. The holding spring 8 is fixed to one end of the lever III which is rotatably mounted on the pivot 9 while at the other end of this lever is arranged the bar H which is controlled by the switchhook. This arrangement is to hold the indicator in its set position for the duration of a call while the receiver is ofi the switchhook. The spring 8 is removed from the notches 'I when the receiver is replaced. The spring I: which is fixed to the galvanometer 2 or to the container l2 opposes the motion of the indicator 5. It is so tensioned that the indicator 5 only presses lightly against its projection l4 when indicating the day tariflf; the indicator then being visible through the window 15 in the container panel [6 for example in the middle or the scale II. The winding 3 of the galvanometer (Fig. 3) is connected, for example, byway of the line conductor with a resistance ll! of the exchange. The resistance l8 (which may be included in any of the relays of the line, such as a control relay) has two windings l9 and 20 one of which is short circuited by contact 2i when the night tarifl is in efiect, thereby causing an increase in the current strength. 'In this case the circuit extends from: earth, battery, operated contact 2|, winding IQ of resistance I 8, winding 3 of the galvanometer to earth.

The armature 4 is accordingly drawn up into the winding 3 against the force exerted by the spring l3 so that the indicator 5 in the window l5 moves to that part of the scale l'l indicating night tarifi- Should the line to the pay station be cut off for any reason the indicator 5 drops to the lowest position of the scale II on account of winding 3 becoming deenergized, and in this position indicatesthat the station is out of order.

What is claimed is:

1. In a paystation tariff indicator, a galvanometer having an indicator arm for indicating the tarifi at the paystatlon, said galvanometer I connected in the paystation line circuit, means responsive to the initiation of a call for transmitting a weak current over said line circuit to view of the tariff inoperate said galvanometer to move its indicator to a middle position indicating the day rate, or for transmitting a strong current over the line to operate the galvanometer to move its indicator to the furthest position to indicate the night rate, and means in the, pay station for holding the indicator in any set position only as long switchhook thereat is operated.

2. In a paystation tarifl indicator. a galvanometer having an indicator arm for indicating the tariff in efl'ect at the paystation, said galvanometer normally connected in the line circuit of said paystation, means for transmitting currents of various strengths over said line to operate the galvanometer to vary the position of its arm and thereby indicate at the paystation the tariff prevailing, means responsive to the initiation of a call from said paystation for holding said indicator arm in its set position, and means asthe' responsive to the termination of the call for again releasing said indicator arm.

3. In a paystation tarifi indicator as claimed in claim 2 in which the indicator arm is held in set position for the duration of a call under control of the switchhook of the paystation.

4. In a paystation tarifi indicator, 8. ga1va-' 

